Not all online searches and transactions are performed on search engines. Directories, business listing sites and social media websites expand your reach and have some of the hottest leads on the web at an inexpensive cost. Whether free or paid, these business listing sites have created marketplaces worth spending your advertising budget on.

Should You Submit to Online Directories?

Yes! You should submit your business information and website to relevant directories, and I’ve included a list below. This list is a great source of leads, consumer reviews and referral traffic. Free or paid, it is important you control your business profile on these listing websites because you need to engage and advertise to consumers where they want to be. Once you claim your profile, update any information that is inaccurate, and be sure to provide details about your business that are a selling point and may draw a new customer in. Most importantly, claim ownership now so that you can respond to positive and negative reviews of your business in the future.

How Many Are Too Many?

There is no set number of directories your business should or shouldn’t be in. It’s the quality and relevancy of the directories that is important to keep in mind. Links from spammy websites, hacked websites or low-quality sites constitute bad neighborhoods that you don’t want to belong to. Linking to your site from these bad neighborhoods on purpose will make you a target for manual penalties from the search engines.

How to Tell Which Directories Are Legit

I have put together a list of 32 business listing sites I recommend, below. But there are much more worth considering. If you’re interested in submitting your site to a directory, take a look at the businesses listed. If you would feel comfortable calling on those businesses and they are relevant to your business, then you should feel safe submitting to and being a part of that neighborhood. The quality of the business profile sites you are listed in is important, so stick to the best. The goal is to make sure that the directories publish the most accurate, up-to-date information about your business so you can reach your potential customers where they are searching.

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First things first, check your website listings with our free business check-up.

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On any of these business listing sites, search to see if your business is already listed, then claim control of your existing listing instead of submitting a duplicate. For new submissions, I’ve linked to the deepest page, so that you can set up a new business profile quickly. Also if you have a directory that you think should be included, please feel free to mention it in the comments.

  1. facebook.com
  2. Google My Business
  3. twitter.com
  4. Bing Places
  5. Yahoo Local/Aabaco Small Business
  6. superpages.com
  7. dexknows.com
  8. linkedin.com
  9. tripadvisor.com
  10. yellowpages.com
  11. yelp.com
  12. ezlocal.com
  13. whitepages.com
  14. foursquare.com
  15. urbanspoon.com
  16. city-data.com
  17. hotfrog.com
  18. bbb.org
  19. bizjournals.com
  20. manta.com
  21. merchantcircle.com
  22. angieslist.com
  23. yellowbook.com
  24. showmelocal.com
  25. thumbtack.com
  26. yellowpages.aol.com
  27. local.com
  28. americantowns.com
  29. insiderpages.com
  30. magicyellow.com
  31. elocal.com
  32. localpages.com

This is just the tip of the iceberg. With more than 70 top listing sites out there, we help businesses lock their listings once, not 70 or more times. Thryv helps business owners thrive.

Originally posted on March 3, 2014.